Shanty boat floats down Sacramento River collecting stories

By Julie Zeeb, Red Bluff Daily News

Monday, July 10, 2017

Red Bluff >> A journey of more than 200 river miles began last Saturday as Wes Modes and the crew of a 1940s replica shanty boat prepared to launch into the Sacramento River from the shores of Red Bluff, where a small crowd gathered to see them off.

Unfortunately, due to mechanical issues with their new outboard motor the team was not able to launch until late Monday afternoon, according to an update the crew posted to Facebook around 6:45 p.m.

Modes, Lauren Benzy and Hazel, a Queensland kelpie mix, will take the entire trek of about 243 river miles with Sara Jane Hall and Jeremiah Daniels joining them at the Red Bluff launch site along with various friends who will join them for different pieces of the trip.

The boat they ride on is about 8-by-10 feet in the cabin and 8-by-20 feet overall, including a small porch on the back over which they can store bicycles.

A lecturer at colleges in Santa Cruz and San Jose, Modes said he has been floating down rivers for about 12 years, starting with building boats using inner tubes and various construction materials.

Modes began to float down major rivers, and this led to building a more permanent boat. As the boat neared completion he decided he wanted to make it more.

“I wanted to not just be a tourist, but give back to communities I float through,” Modes said. “I listen to river communities and their stories and create an archive for other people who study rivers. I make those stories available to others through a website.”

Modes has traveled the Sacramento River three times on rafts and launched from Red Bluff two of those times. He says he has fond memories of Red Bluff, which is part of why he chose to launch this trip here.

It will take about month to reach the final destination, as stops are typically between two and three days to allow the crew to conduct interviews.

“The interviews we do are not the man on the street type,” Modes said. “Usually, they are long oral history interviews. We sit with people for an hour or more typically.”

The shanty boat is part of the art and history project “A Secret History of American River People,” which is in its fourth year. Modes has traveled more than 1,000 river miles and talked with thousands while working on a book. Previous trips traveled the Mississippi and Tennessee rivers and now the group makes its way down the Sacramento in conjunction with an art exhibit at the Sacramento History Museum that documents previous years’ efforts.

“Sometimes we stop in a community and if people are there and if there are stories to tell we stop and talk a few days,” Modes said. “Later when we get underway might travel 20 miles. That’s why takes a month to go 240 miles. We just stop and stay at place as long as we need to collect stories.”

The project is designed to encourage awareness of issues facing river communities, detail the long history of people who have lived or worked along the river and highlight basic river ecology. More information on the project as well as documentaries and pictures are available on http://peoplesriverhistory.us/.

Anyone interested in being interviewed can write to Modes at wes@peoplesriverhistory.us or visit the website.

Over the years, the group has had so many interesting stories that it’s hard to pick a favorite.

“One that always comes to mind is someone I interviewed last year,” Modes said. “This woman who described herself as a Tennessee hillbilly who grew up on a shanty boat. One night there were prowlers on the shanty boat. She was 9 and she told them they better get gone or they’d get sawed off. The prowlers told her go back to bed and she said I’m going to shoot. She did and they went back to shore with buckshot and said you shot me. She said come back again and I will shoot. This lady was in her 90s. She was fun to interview.”

Not all the stories are as colorful, but they are very informative. One man talked about his job, which was to pull trash out of the river to keep it clean, while another was with the chief of police in a small Alabama town.

“We talked with another woman whose dad ran a steamboat from a little town all the way to a big town nearby,” Modes said. “Literally there was a part of the railroad tracks where it stopped and they floated the cars on a barge and pushed it down river 30 miles.

“I’m fond of days off and being able to swim and sit and read with your back in the sun, but I really like interviewing someone you just hear and think wow this is not like anyone else’s story. It’s amazing.”

The Sacramento History Museum exhibit tied to the project closes July 30. The shanty boat will be near the museum July 19-22, where it will be on display at the river’s edge.

Modes said he is definitely interested in returning to Red Bluff to gather stories not only of its past as a head of navigation, but in the transition from a lake town back to the tradition of being a river town.